Portugal's most senior police officer has suggested that detectives may have been too hasty in making the McCanns official suspects in the investigation into the disappearance of their daughter, Madeleine.

In an interview to be aired on Portuguese radio today, Alípio Ribeiro, the national director of the Polícia Judiciária, will concede that police may have acted too soon in making Kate and Gerry McCann formal suspects, known in Portugal as arguidos. His comments were interpreted last night by the McCanns as a tacit admission that the police were wrong to name them as being involved in the disappearance of their four-year-old daughter.

The couple's spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, urged the Portuguese police and judiciary to drop the McCanns' arguido status. 'The only proper thing to do is eliminate Kate and Gerry from the inquiry,' he said. 'They, and our own investigators, can then get on working effectively to find Madeleine and bring those responsible for her abduction to justice.'

Mitchell said the naming of the parents last September as official suspects might have dissuaded people from coming forward with information that could have helped.

Ribeiro's comments were reported in the broadsheet newspaper, Público, yesterday and are scheduled to be repeated in an interview to be broadcast on Portugal's Radio Renascença today.

The McCanns, both 39 have repeatedly campaigned to be removed as suspects in the case. The couple were described yesterday as being comforted by the development.

'Kate and Gerry McCann very much welcome Ribeiro's reported comments in which he accepts that Portuguese police officers under his authority acted too hastily in making the McCanns official suspects,' said Mitchell, adding that he believed Ribeiro's comments confirmed that there was no case to answer against the couple.

The McCanns and British expat Robert Murat, 34, remain the only named suspects in the case. All three have denied any involvement.

Madeleine vanished from the McCanns' holiday apartment while her parents were out dining with friends nearby in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz last May. Despite numerous appeals and the raising of a £1.2m 'Find Madeleine' fund, the search to discover what happened to the youngster has drawn a blank.

The McCann team had put together a plan of how they wish the investigation to proceed and are requesting a full review of all police records and statements, including one taken from a 12-year-old girl who reported sightings of a strange man at the resort last May. They are also calling for more collaboration between the Portuguese police, Interpol and the authorities in Spain, Morocco and Britain.

Last month the McCanns released the sketch of a man, drawn by an FBI-trained police artist, whom they believe could be involved in Madeleine's disappearance, but it has so far failed to provide any new leads in the eight-month-old case.